GAZA, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian student Hussein al-Awour, 17, had to answer his high school final exams from bed in Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City as his injury prevented him from going to school.
Al-Awour was injured by Israeli bullets in his right leg on May 14 during mass anti-Israel protests that demand the return of Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave their cities during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 as well as lifting the blockade Israel has been imposed since 2007.
The injury caused severe fractures in the bones and cuts in the blood veins, which required several surgeries.
Despite his severe condition, the young man decided to take the exams on time.
"I want to succeed despite the injury. I'm not fully prepared for the exams as I still receive treatment, but I'm determined to pass the exams," al-Awour told Xinhua.
Nearly 77,000 Palestinian students attended the first session of their high school exams in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on May 26, seeking to obtain the General Secondary Certificate.
Although the exams coincided with al-Awour's stay at the hospital and the appointments to complete the surgical procedures, the hospital administration decided to allocate a room within the cardiac surgery department for him to finish his exams.
Before he attended the first exam, which was the Islamic Religion, al-Awour underwent a preliminary surgery that led him to sleep.
He woke up just before the exam time, relying only on what he studied at home before being injured.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education and police officers supervise the exams of injured students at hospitals.
Right after he finished his exam, al-Awour was ready for another surgery that was postponed because of the exams.
"I wished I could attend the exams at the school with my classmates. I never imagined that I would go through such circumstances," he said with sadness.
Along with al-Awour, 30 more injured students attend high school exams from their hospitals beds.
Al-Awour and the other 30 students were injured during the mass anti-Israel rallies, known as "the Great March of Return," which started on March 30 and left at least 118 Palestinians dead. Three of them were high school students.
Ibrahim al-Zarqa was one of the students killed during the rallies that also left thousands injured.
Al-Zarqa's sister, Reem, posted a photo of him on her Facebook account on Thursday, recalling their memories and conversations on the exams.
"We miss you today. My father has always asked you to study well for the exams, but today you left us and went to paradise," the pot read.
The challenges have not only affected high school students, but also extended to the Ministry of Education, which suffers from financial crisis and deficit in its annual budget that has a significant impact on educational process.
"The ministry is doing everything to create appropriate atmosphere for students under the Israeli blockade which has been imposed for 11 years," said Ziad Thabet, education ministry undersecretary.
He added that the ministry faces other challenges, such as power cuts and the inability to pay full salaries for the ministry's staff, including teachers.
"We exert great efforts to provide a good atmosphere for students and provide psychological support for them and immediate intervention, especially for the injured students, who had to attend their exams at hospitals," he stressed.
The official said that the ministry has established nine monitoring committees in the hospitals of the Gaza Strip so that the injured students could take the exams on time.
"The Gaza Strip has been witnessing difficult situations, but the ministry is working attentively to provide the best service for the students," Thabet said.
